The Shadow Complex
by PsychoDirector
Summary: After a sudden ambush, Sora finds himself on another world, with bounty hunters hot on his trail. As strange events unfold and new alliances are formed, his beliefs are put into question. Light... or dark? The choice could save his life... or kill him.
1. Happily Ever After?

**Psycho Director: **Hey, guys! Konnichi wa! Geuten tag! Hola! And all that other good stuff. This is the first chapter the really long fanfic I've had hanging around DA for the past few months. It was a real _pain in the arse _to load here, though, I can tell you. Darnit, FF, have an easier submission thing! But, whatever. It's here now, so that's good. So, without further adu, here is the description and stuff:

**Rated G/PG-13: Strong violence, slight sexual referances (fluffy), mild language, minor character death**

**Pairings: SoraxKairi, SoraxOC (very minor); RikuxKairi, OCxOC**

**Description: **Once, long ago, a mysterious event happened that left an entire world bare, its residents maimed and killed in terrible ways. No one found out who did it, or why it stopped so suddenly. But now, fourteen years later, strange events are beginning to resurface. Sora finds himself flung into another world, where its protector can control the Heartless he seeks to defeat, and Riku and Kairi are in hot pursuit. Bounty hunters are at every turn, and alliances are put into question. The only thing that's certain is that the Trinity needs to find out the truth behind the Shadow Complex and the events of fourteen years ago, before the darkness in their hearts destroys them from the inside--and time is running out. New allies. New enemies. New worlds. Like you'd have it any other way. Light... or dark? The choice could save your life... or kill you.

Enjoy.

::CHAPTER I::

It had been three days since Sora and Riku had defeated Xemnas and had returned to the Destiny Islands. For three days they had enjoyed the peace and quiet, feeling that they could finally put all that had happened in the last year behind them. Year. They had been gone for over a year. It was hard to believe it had really been that long. The Islands hadn't changed a bit since then.

But, as most everyone knew, it was impossible to completely forget such a time. And it wasn't long before the past came back to haunt them. It all started with a letter.

Kairi held up the note in a bottle. It looked like it had been made it a hurry. The tape, which kept it rolled up, was wrinkled and folded over in places. There were spots where the frantic writing had ripped or indented the paper. But, most importantly, was King Mickey's seal printed neatly on the worn note. Sora hurriedly opened the bottle and emptied it onto his palm. Unrolling the note, he squinted. The writing was sloppy and quick. After a second, he was able to make out words, and read them.

"_Dear Riku, Sora, and Kairi," _He read. "_I have some bad news. I'm afraid that the fun isn't over just yet." _Riku smiled slightly at that comment. Kairi looked worried. Sora swallowed slightly. What did the King mean? There couldn't be _more_! He had just gotten home! He shook his head in disbelief, and opened his mouth to continue.

"I'm going to have to ask you not read that, boy," a voice said from behind them. Sora whipped his head around. A man stood behind them. He had dark blue hair with two bangs, which swept away from his face like bird's wings. He wore square glasses perched on his nose, and an off-white lab coat with a thin chain around the collar. His shirt was gray with a white stripe across the middle and his pants were dark brown. That wasn't what caught the threesome's attention, though. In his left hand he held a large scimitar. The blade was long and curved sharply. The handle was covered with an intricate design of foreign symbols. He held it forward like a lance.

"Riku," he said, half-smiling. "It's good to see you again."

"Strange," Riku replied icily. "I don't think I've ever seen you before." The man laughed coldly.

"I'd be faintly surprised if you had. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Xalkus."

"Xalkus? Sounds like a Nobody."

"Okay, now I'm _insulted_. I _hardly _consider myself anything like those bumbling idiots. All they can think about is 'hearts this' and 'hearts that'. It's enough to make a man sick. I'm almost grateful that that pitiful Organization is no more. For mindless, heartless creatures they sure were a nuisance! I—oh dear, I'm prattling on again." Xalkus shook his head slightly before continuing.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here," he said. Riku nodded slowly.

"Ah. The point is, we're very disappointed in you, Riku."

"We? Who's we?"

"Why, my colleges and I. You really didn't think I came up here on a whim and a bit of anger, did you?"

"Would you just shut up and get to the point?" Kairi said impatiently. Xalkus stopped for a second.

"Well, what is this? I don't believe you're in a position to talk, young lady."

"I'll do what I want, thank you. And I could care less about your stupid sword in my face," Kairi huffed. Xalkus turned to Riku.

"The girl's got quite a mouth on her, doesn't she? Rather disappointing choice for a girlfriend."

"She's right, though. Get to the point already," Riku replied. Xalkus looked mildly insulted, but continued on.

"Like I said, we're disappointed. You were, shall we say, quite a perfect specimen. You were one with the darkness, were naturally strong, you could be easily convinced of just about anything, and, most importantly, you had the Keyblade." He paused and laughed. "Yes, I know about the Keyblade. A little bird, or rather raven, told me. She also told me about how, at the last minute, one of your friends managed to convince you to head back over to the light. All quite embarrassing, you see. Though she _was _a little sketchy on the details… though I would be, too, if I had been upped by a child."

"If you're trying to get me to go back to the darkness, you're out of luck," Riku growled. "I'm never going back there."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Xalkus noted. "And it's a shame. Because now we can't allow you to live with that choice. We need a Keyblade still, but a Keyblader against us would only get in our way. Now let's—Augh!" Xalkus fell to the ground. Sora stood over him, with the Kingdom Key in his hand.

"That's right," he said. Xalkus stood up. He gaped at Sora, then at Riku, then at Sora again.

"How? How can both of you have a Keyblade? That's improbable!" He pressed two fingers against his temple and closed his eyes. "Alright, then. This'll due," he said slowly. He drew out his scimitar and swung it in a wide arc. Sora jumped out of the way. Riku quickly drew out Way to the Dawn and joined the fight. Kairi stood up, eager for battle, but Sora and Riku both shouted "No!" at the same time. She sat down and crossed her arms.

Xalkus was a tough fighter. He swung his scimitar with deadly precision. He lunged it forward, then used it as a pole to leap up into the air. He landed with a thump behind the two boys and swept the blade in a semi circle. Sora jumped out of the way in time, but Riku suffered a long cut on his back. Luckily his thick jacket kept the blade from slicing his spine.

Sora swung the Keyblade in a downward arc, but Xalkus tossed his scimitar to the side and grabbed the blade mid-swing. He then lunged forward, so that the end of the handle jammed into Sora's stomach and winded him. Riku took this time to grab the scimitar and swing with it. Xalkus blocked the attack by crossing his arms, but it left a deep cut on his right arm. Ignoring it, Xalkus flipped onto his back and kicked Riku in the chest. Riku gasped and dropped the blades. Xalkus grabbed the scimitar but left Way to the Dawn.

Sora had since recovered, and delivered a blow to Xalkus's face. Xalkus growled and began swinging the scimitar like wild. Sora put up the Keyblade as a shield, but was being knocked back by the blows. Suddenly he whipped the Keyblade to the side. The scimitar got caught against the teeth of the key and was ripped out of Xalkus's hands. It bounced against the sand and came to a stop about ten feet away. Riku grabbed the blade again and went after Xalkus. Suddenly Xalkus kicked Riku in the ankles, a cheap shot. The silver-haired boy cried out and fell to the sand. Xalkus reached down and picked up his scimitar. Spitting up sand, Riku watched as the man smirked and opened up a door to darkness. He stepped though it with infuriating slowness and waved good-bye.

"I don't think so!" Sora yelled, and ran towards the door.

"Sora, no!" Riku yelled, and hastily stood up. It was too late, though. Sora had already gone though. Riku tried to run in as well, but the door disappeared into the air. Riku sat down heavily and began pounding the sand with his fist. Kairi slowly walked over.

"He got away…" Riku said through clenched teeth. "That psycho got away!"

"What now?" Kairi asked softly. Riku opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. His mind was blank. Finally he sighed and said the sad truth.

"I don't know. They could be anywhere." Kairi took a minute to let this sink in.

"I think… I think we should tell Mickey. I think he was trying to tell this to us in—"

"The letter!" Riku and Kairi yelled at the same time. They ran to where they had been reading it, but it wasn't there. Kairi pointed suddenly.

"Out there!" she yelled. A piece of paper with the symbol on it floated, face down, in the water. Even as they watched a corner of the paper sank into the water. The weight of the wet paper dragged a little more down, then a little more, until the entire paper was underwater. There it dissolved into tiny fibers floating amidst a stain of unreadable ink. The two teenagers gaped silently for a long time. Finally Riku spoke up.

"You're right, Kairi. We should definitely tell Mickey about this."

"But how can we talk to someone on another world without a ship?"

"I think I have an idea."

Sora stepped out into a dark city. The city resembled the city in the World That Never Was, only with less lights and more buildings. It also looked rather run-down.

"Xalkus! Where are you?" he yelled. He looked around. He was in a dark alley. On one end there was a brick wall with multiple graffiti messages printed onto it. On the other there was an off-white faded wall with shingles. It was probably the side to a house. In front of Sora was a chain-link fence with a large padlock over the door. And behind… Sora turned around at the sound of laughter. Behind him was a street and some garbage cans. A hobo dressed in a shirt and pants almost as crusty as his skin was snoring on top of an old mattress. Some red embers could be seen in the can next to him. Nobody else was there.

"Where… where am I?" Sora asked to nobody in particular. He realized too late his mistake in going through the door. Sighing, Sora began walking towards the street. A taxi revved by, its tires screeching against the gravel. The laugh came again, loud and echoing. Sora looked around the alley and started to sweat.

"Who's there?" he asked. "Xalkus?" The laugh came again, high-pitched like a young girl's. Sora took out his Keyblade and tightly grasped the handle. He saw a shadow move against the brick wall. As the shadow came closer, Sora began to make out who it was. It was… a little girl, no older than seven. Her bangs were slightly out of control, but the rest of her blonde hair was held up in two bouncy pigtails, except for two tendrils, which swept in front of her ears and down a little past her shoulders. She wore a hooded sweater and coveralls with a skirt instead of pants. Her Mary Jane's made little clicking noises against the stone path as she walked into the light.

"I scared you, didn' I?" she smiled. Sora smiled back, relieved.

"Yeah, really," he said. "Do you know where—" he stopped when he looked at her eyes. They were totally devoid of pupils or shine, despite the fact that they were under a large harvest moon and they should have been reflecting the light, like his. It was as if they took all the light and never gave any back. It was disturbing, but kind of cute. The girl sensed Sora's pause and laughed. But it wasn't a normal laugh. Her laugh echoed off the walls and sounded demonic. The hobo grunted and sat up. He took one look at the little girl and his eyes got huge.

"Aw, crap," he said, and ran off as fast as he could. Sora froze at the odd laugh the girl gave off. Finally she stopped and narrowed her large, blank eyes.

"Xalkus talked to me today," she said darkly. "He said you'd been bad. He said you must be punished." Sora swallowed. Something about the way the girl spoke filled him with terror. She chuckled as the ground was covered with black pools of darkness. The moon was covered up as three Wyverns circled round in the sky. A Large Body stood in front of the street, blocking the way. Six Shadow Balls slid out of the black pools, gnashing their razor-sharp teeth. A large amount of Shadows pulled out of the pools as well, looking like they were melting as the liquid darkness slid off of their ant-like bodies.

"Bye, bye…" she said, and walked into a door to darkness. Sora took a deep breath and prepared for battle. He swung at the Shadows first. In one swing a dozen disappeared into the air, but two dozen took their place. A Wyvern dived down and tried to claw Sora's face. He stabbed it in the chest and it disappeared. The Large Body then slammed into Sora, sending him crashing ungracefully into the fence. A Shadow Ball dived at him, but he managed to grab it. He held it back; it's teeth snapping inches from his face. He flung it back and it crashed into the other two. They disappeared. Suddenly a swarm of Shadows dived onto him, each trying to stab its claws into his heart. Sora could feel their claws tearing into his flesh. Warm blood dripped down as his tried to fight off the swarm. He began to feel dizzy. He clenched the Keyblade tightly and held it up.

"Cure!" There was a bright green light… that was abruptly cut off as he was attacked by a Wyvern. The Wyvern clawed at his head. He put his hands over his head and felt more blood roll down his wrists and arms. He took a step and felt the ground sway. There were too many… A Shadow jumped onto his chest and dug its claws deep into his skin. Sora grunted in pain and stabbed the Shadow. He had no sooner done that then the Large Body had grabbed him from behind. He felt his feet leaving ground, as its arms tightened around his waist. He cried out as the Large Body attempted to crush him alive. Using the last of his strength, Sora managed to force the handle of the Keyblade into the Large Body's stomach. While not actually killing it, the attack made the Large Body grunt and let go of Sora. Sora fell to the ground and landed on his feet. He swung from side to side, gasping and clutching his sides, feeling the world tilt and sway like a carnival ride. The Heartless stood around him, staring at him with their unnatural glowing yellow eyes. He tried to say something, but only ended up coughing up blood. Finally, with red spots swirling around his vision, he collapsed on the hard rocky ground.

He did not get back up.


	2. Deux Ex Machina

**Psycho Director: **Hi. :)

**Rated PG-13: Violence, strong language (later on), mild sextual references**

**Summary: **Madison is just your average girl... that is, if you ignore the ESP and the whole Heartless-controlling thing. Questions about this have long since faded into the dark recesses of her mind, as an answer continues to elude her. However, after a freak meeting with a boy from another world, this and other mysterious events start beginning to get answers. Unfotunately, answers all too often come with dire consiquences...

::CHAPTER II:

Madison wandered the street near her home, a bag of groceries in her hand. She was surprised that it had gotten dark so fast. It seemed like only a few minutes ago that she had finished buying the groceries and went over to her friend Ellie's house for a quick game of soccer. Then the sun seemed to magically vanish from the sky, and she was frantically grabbing her bag and running out the door. She paused near a mirror in a display as her reflection caught her eye. Her shoulder-length hair was black with lime green highlights. She kept it hidden under a sideways baseball cap. She had on a dark jacket as well as faded jeans and brown boots. But what was most interesting was her shirt. It was black, but in the center was a red silhouette of a heart covered in barbed wire. It had come one day in the mail, adressed to her, with no return address... She had questioned it once, but that, too, had passed. Over the years it just didn't seem to matter anymore. Why spend her life obsessing over a weird shirt? There were better things out there.

She looked over at her reflection, combing her unruly hair absently with one hand and gazing at the dusty puppets on display. The store had gone out of business years hence, with only the chipped and dirty marinettes to prove that there had once been life in there. It was a perfect symbol of the wrecked state her home city had come to, thanks to the Heartless. She was lucky if she found someone in as mutilated state as the dolls. Horrible images of people after the Heartless had gotten hold of them plagued her nightmares, like everyone elses. Her world had survived for over a year after the Heartless struck, but at what cost? It had turned into a wasteland.

Suddenly a cry of sheer agony made her jump up at least two feet into the air. The cry suddenly ended with an unsetting "Urk!" and then, seconds later, a small thump sound. She looked around for the source of the horrible noise, all senses on alert.

_Heartless? _Madison thought before taking off down the street. _It must be. _She stopped when she came to an old alley. A group of Heartless had gathered around near the end. The sheer number of them wasn't very surprising, as Heartless almost always traveled in groups. They had probably stolen another person's heart, seeing as there were splashes of blood scattered around—the sign of a struggle.

Madison walked up to a Large Body. She frowned and stared intently at the Heartless creature, focusing her mind.

_What are you doing? _She thought. Telepathy. It was one of Madison's two 'special gifts'. She could focus her thoughts to people, and they could do the same, oddly enough. The Heartless invasion had not come without benefits. The Large Body stared at her with narrowed eyes, and a thought bubbled to the surface of her mind.

**Back off, Human. This is none of your concern. **Not too long ago the voice would have given Madison shivers. But that was then. She was used to it by now.

_Really? Funny. Last time I checked it was my job was _specifically _to keep Heartless scum from killing innocent people. There's blood all over and you guys are all here. Heartless plus blood equals my concern. Or don't they teach you math where you come from? _It was then that Madison noticed whom the Heartless had been attacking. Some kid about fifteen or so was lying facedown on the ground, blood still dripping from his wounds. He had spiky brown hair and some really, really odd black clothes. One arm was resting a few inches from his head, and the other was stretched out in front of him as if he was trying to grab something. His skin was pale and his eyes were shut. But he was still there, which meant that the Heartless hadn't taken his heart yet, and she could just barely hear him make little shuddery gasps for air. He was breathing.

**Your 'job' must be put aside for now. This is an important matter.**

_I'll bet you don't even know what it is. _The Large Body seemed to flinch, but then replied, **That information is classified. **

_Listen, buddy. I'm tired and angry and I want to go home, so I'll just give this to you straight—Go. Away. Now. I don't care who sent you or what for; you don't mess around with people in MY TOWN, _she growled at him.

**But—**

_NOW. _Madison clenched her fist, making it snap loudly. She couldn't really hurt the Heartless, but luckily they didn't call her bluff. The rest of the Heartless obeyed and disappeared into darkness, but the Large Body stayed. Why was everyone else scared shitless by a fourteen-year-old? It was better not to ask, like so many other things that had been happening in Madison's life. She stared it down for a long time, then sighed and thought, _Fine. Be like that. _She walked over to the brunet, still fuming. She then reached into her backpack and pulled out a roll of bandages (when you run into murderous Heartless every day, you have to be prepared), and began to wrap up the worst of the wounds. She did it robotically, having bandaged people for over a year now. Hell, she could probably become a professional doctor without collage this way. Finally she motioned for the Large Body to come over. It did, although rather unwillingly.

_If you're going to stick around, you might as well help, _she thought. _You can carry him. _The Large Body picked up the unconscious boy, letting him drape limply over its arms, and looked at her.

**What now? **It asked.

_We're going to the hospital, genius. It's just down this road and left. _

**And you know the route because…?**

_Buddy, I've dragged more people to the hospital because of your handiwork than you can probably count. _

**And I suppose you expect some kind of pity or thank for your valiant service.**

_No. I expect you to shut up and follow me. _She began walking. Along the way they ran into a few people, but much less then were to be expected of such a big town. The Heartless invasion had scared most people off. A vendor stared at them with wide eyes, then tossed the bottle of liquor he had been drinking in the garbage. Two teenage boys looting a TV yelled a few swear words and ran off. An old lady said "gracious!" as she looked out the window and closed the shutters. Only one guy seemed to recognize them, and that was Mr. Harson. He knew just about anything, including Madison's talent. Eventually they got over to a hospital. The hospital loomed darkly over them silhouetted by the moon, large and square and white. Its windows glowed yellow like demonic eyes. Madison casually opened the glass door. A rush of warm air greeted them from the heaters inside. She wiped her feet habitually on the gray carpet and opened the second door. She soon came up to the white desk in front. A teenage girl with blonde pigtails was busy reading a magazine and didn't notice them come in. Madison couldn't read the cover, but judging by the picture, she could tell it wasn't _Time_.

"Excuse me," Madison said. She had never seen the lady before. Maybe she had gotten a promotion to replace Mrs. Fawnsburg, who had probably retired. Too bad. Madison rather liked the nice old woman. This new girl, however, ignored her.

"Excuse me," Madison said a little louder. Still no response. Suddenly the Large Body slammed its hand down hard on the desk, shifting the boy safely over to one arm beforehand. Its hand left a large, gaping hole in the middle of the desk, with little splinters hanging from the edges. _That _got her attention. That… and the fact that an emo teen girl and a large, dark, karate-chopping monster carrying a bloodied-up teen with weird clothing were standing not two feet away from her. Her eyes were as large as dinner plates.

"W-who are you?" she asked, trying not to scream.

"I'm Madison Grei, and we have a bit of a problem here," Madison said while waving her hand at the boy. The girl still continued to gape, mostly at the Large Body.

"Oh, and this is a Heartless. They're creatures that like to rip people's hearts brutally out of their bodies, splattering blood everywhere, and can appear anywhere, anytime, as long as there's a shadow," Madison added. Okay, maybe she went a bit overboard with detail, but whatever. The girl started to whimper pathetically. Madison had a feeling she'd be sleeping with a nightlight from then on.

"Just call Dr. Conrad. He'll know what to do." The girl hurriedly grabbed the phone, eager to give this problem to someone else.

"Dr. Conrad? T-there are some… _very _interesting guests here…" Madison smiled sadistically at the Large Body.

"Prejudice, all of it. Judging a person by how they look and all. But what are you gonna do?" Was it her imagination, or was that a flicker of a smile on the Large Body's face? Suddenly a doctor came running into the room. His gray hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, and his glasses were huge. His white lab coat billowed behind him like a cape as he ran in, grabbing the doorframe to keep from falling. His face was beet-red.

"Madi? Is that you?" Madison waved nonchalantly from her spot by the desk, the world's dopiest grin splashed onto her face. Dr. Conrad ran over.

"Why, Madi, I haven't seen you in weeks! I was starting to think you'd finally ran out of town!"

"And leave the Heartless to you guys? I'm not _that _evil!"

"I still don't understand quite how you do it. One second they're a raging death machine, and the next you've got them purring like a kitten." Madison laughed.

"You can stay wondering, too." She neglected to add in the fact that she didn't know quite how herself.

"D-Dr. Conrad? Could you _please _tell me just _what is going on?_" The girl tried hard to keep under control, but her voice kept rising higher. Dr. Conrad turned towards her.

"Oh! I guess I forgot to mention. Cassie, this is Madison. She's a very _special _girl."

"You make it sound as though I'm mentally retarded or something…" Madison pointed out on a whim.

"And these things… the Heartless, or whatnot?" Cassie asked, pointing to the Large Body. "I-is it going to tear out my heart or something?"

"Do you think I would allow it in a hospital if it would?" Dr. Conrad pointed out. "Madi wouldn't bring a feral Heartless in here, right?"

"Uh… yeah… sure…" Madison joked. Suddenly she remembered what she came here for. "Oh yeah! I found another guy who'd been attacked!" Dr. Conrad looked over the brunet kid, then sighed glumly.

"I'm sorry, Madi. We're full up. We could transport him to another hospital, but the nearest one isn't for miles. Do you have any place else? If it's too serious, I guess we could use the floor or something…" Madison sighed, too.

"Well, there's my house, I guess. We have a spare bedroom and I keep all of my equipment there."

"Good. Sorry about this, it's just that—with all of the Heartless attacks lately, it's hard to keep things under control, you know?"

"I know…" Madison said glumly. She wondered how Mom would respond when she brought a stranger home. Not good, she guessed.

"They're working on adding a new wing specifically for Heartless attacks. They're calling it the 'Unexplained Heart Problem' wing or something like that, so there should be plenty more room by Friday."

"That's cool. I guess I'd better get home now." Madison waved good-bye forlornly, and opened the door out to the cold March night. Once outside she pointed accusingly at the brunet.

"You are getting to be far more trouble than you're worth, buddy," she said.

**Just give it up. Leave the child behind and go home. No one will care. **The Large Body thought.

_Will you just stuff it already? Why do you care if you miss one little heart anyway?_

**His heart is special. **_Now _the Large Body had her attention.

_Special? How? _She asked.

…**I don't know. I can feel it. And he has **_**it. **_The Large Body seemed to hiss with anger and fear when it thought _it_. Madison didn't know what _it _was, but she understood the rest, sort of. People's hearts glowed inside them, but only Heartless could see them that way, or 'feel' them. They often glowed brighter or darker or even in different colors occasionally. That was how a Heartless could tell where a heart was, because their vision was generally pretty poor, except for some more advanced breeds. When they 'felt' a heart, it was as if a tiny signal in their minds said, "There's one! Get it! Get it!"

Some hearts, like Madison's, were different. They glowed in an odd way, or were too dim or bright, or felt off and confused the Heartless. Madison had a theory that her heart maybe glowed so dimly that it was like that of a Heartless, barely there at all, so that was why they mostly obeyed her. She wondered if the kid had a heart like hers, a 'mutated' heart. She spent so much time thinking about mutated hearts and 'feel'ing that she almost missed her house. Luckily, her feet instinctively turned down the cobblestone path and up the cement steps to the green front door. She turned the gold-colored knob and walked in. Immediately she was assaulted by a lady with black hair in curlers, wearing a magenta bathrobe.

"Madison! Where on Earth have you been?" she yelled. Madison grimaced.

"I was _helping people_, Mom."

"Yes, but did it have to take you _hours_? Did you at least get the groceries?" Madison remembered the brown paper bag, and too late remembered having left it in the hospital.

"Err…" Luckily she was saved the choice of answering when Mom saw the brunet.

"Oh my God, is he _alive_?"

"No, he's a corpse I wanted to drag here to show you."

"Madison, why didn't you bring him to a hospital?"

"They're full. Dr. Conrad asked if I could bring him here."

"I swear, that _Doom _doctor doesn't know what he's doing, casting out a dying person like that!"

"Quit messing with the Fourth Wall, Mom."

"Oh my God, we need sheets and bandages and disinfectant and maybe some smelling salt… oh God, oh God…"

"And I take it I should get this Large Body out of here, too."

"Is that what they're called now? Not exactly appealing."

**Can I rip her heart out now? **The Large Body asked.

_Maybe later, _Madison answered without really paying attention. Then she stopped focusing her thoughts on 'Project'. _I sure hope he doesn't wake up now… _she thought. _Lest the first thing he see be a Large Body, an emo girl, and Mom trying to rape him with random medical devices. _Suddenly there was a movement behind her. Madison whipped her head around. Nothing…there? She turned back around, only to find a Shadow making its way out of a pool of darkness. She gasped. The Shadow stared at her with large, yellow eyes.

**First I'm gonna kill you, then everyone else here… **It said in a dark voice. Before Madison could even open her big mouth, the Shadow leapt onto her. It's claws grasped around her head, and it hissed. Madison stumbled backwards into the wall. Her hands reached up to try and grab the Shadow off her head.

**Chaos! **It yelled. **Complete and utter CHAOS!**

_To be continued! By the way, sorry if Madison seems like a big, fat Mary-Sue. I'm trying my best not to make it so. If you have any advice, don't be afraid to share! Bye now!_


	3. Special Heart

**Psycho Director**: Hi, ya'll! It's me again! So, um... this chapter's view is back to Sora. Not Madi. Sora. You know, the really disturbing one with the huge pants and shoes and hair and a really, really short figure to make them seem _huger_. Is that a word? Aw, who cares! Lousy Namine... I wanted to play as KHI Sora more... Stupid pod-egg-flower thing... What? Where am I? Oh yeah.

**Rating PG-13: Strong violence, 'fluff', mild to medium language**

**_Kingdom Hearts and any characters corelated with it are not mine. My Chemical Romance is not mine (even though they rock x3). The Wii is not mine. I barely even own my own pants. :(_**

::CHAPTER III:

Sora gasped for breath, sweating, when he first woke up. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was in a warm, comfy bed instead of in the middle of a dark alley, being ambushed by Heartless.

"So it was all… a dream?" he asked to no one in particular. He sighed with relief, sinking back into the cozy blankets. He then looked around the room, in the hopes of finding some sort of reassurance that it was a dream and he was safe at home. Surprisingly, the decorations were entirely different. There were random posters tacked to the walls, a TV set complete with a Wii and beanbag chairs in the corner, a mini-fridge with papers stacked on top randomly, and a desk next to the bed with a glowing alarm clock, lamp and an open magazine. A blonde wearing a skimpy white bikini top and torn jeans sat on a red dirt bike. The room was lit only by the glow of the alarm clock, a glow-in-the-dark My Chemical Romance poster, and a wall clock with blue neon around it.

"What? Where am I?" He looked at the clock. It said 11:27 AM dutifully.

_That's not right… _Sora thought dimly. _It was around four when Xalkus attacked… _He looked at the date, which was written in the top corner in small print. 10/29. October twenty-ninth. Sora realized that he had spent the entire night and then some here. But where was here, exactly? And why was it so dark when it was almost noon?

The last answer was easy. The room's only window was covered with a black curtain, making it seem abnormally dark. Sora sat up to get a better look around, but then fell back again, clutching his side and gritting his teeth in pain. Looking down, he noticed that his hands were covered in bandages as well as his side. So was his forehead and most of his arms and legs. That would explain where the sudden pain came from.

_Okay, no problem, _Sora thought. _You can work this out. Maybe…maybe somebody found me and took me to a hospital. But this doesn't look like a hospital. Why am I not dead? I guess the first thing to do would be to find out where I am. _Once again Sora tried to get up, and fell back down. Red spots flashed in front of his eyes. Now _this _was pathetic. He couldn't even move! Fuming slightly and wincing at the pain in his ribs (at least one was broken), Sora took another look around the room. He noticed his yellow belt hanging down from one of the bedposts. Sora reached out his hand for it, trying hard not to shift from his spot, and managed to grab a red pouch hanging from the side. He opened it and rummaged through it. Pieces of scrap paper… the Circle of Life Keychain (he held onto that one for later)… a candy wrapper… a few Munny pieces… Finally he pulled out a small green vial. The top was corked and wrapped with tiny glass leaves. All around the bottle was an intricately carved design, full of flowing symbols in some foreign language. Inside a lime green liquid sloshed around.

"A Hi-Potion." Sora pulled out the cork and drank the green substance. He grimaced and stuck out his tongue as the stuff washed down his throat. It was bitter and sour at the same time, but he could also feel it begin to heal him. He watched as a cut near his wrist laced itself together into fully healed skin. Two ribs in his side slid neatly back into place and instantly molded back together. Sora sat up cautiously as soon as the last tint of green faded. No sudden, painful shock came, though he felt sore all over. He cautiously slid out of the white, sanitary bed and noticed a few dark red blotches where he had been. Feeling rather guilty, Sora folded up the bloody sheet and put it near the door. Then he flicked the light on.

"Ow!" Sora cried out, shielding his face with his hand. The sudden light burned his eyes a bit. After a few watery blinks, however, he got used to it and got a good look around. He was in a boy's bedroom. His jacket and gloves were piled onto one of the beanbag chairs. He held up his jacket. It looked like someone had set it into a blender. The front was cut to ribbons, and the back was only a little better. His gloves were just piles of ripped cloth.

_I can't exactly wear these now, _Sora thought. _But I guess that means I can't Drive, either. That sucks. _He looked down at his shirt and pants, which he was wearing. The pants were okay, but the shirt had a large gash down the front and three tears in the back. Sora wondered if there was anything in the closet he could wear until he could get some new clothes. He smiled and shook his head.

_Look at this. I'm in a strange house, which might not even be in my own _world, _I was knocked out for over half a day, I was ambushed by Heartless, Xalkus is trying to kill Riku and probably me too, and I'm worried about _clothes. He shrugged and rummaged around, and finally found an outfit that might have been his size. He held up a white shirt. It had a yellow smiley face with razor-sharp teeth on the front. He also found a pair of camo pants and a dark green jacket with some matching green gloves. It would due. He quickly changed, folding up his old clothes and leaving them on the bed. Maybe they could be patched up later, if he needed to Drive. He also took off a few of the bandages where the Hi-Potion had stopped the bleeding, and put his stuff in his new pockets. He now looked half normal for a change.

Sora walked over and opened the window. Outside the sun shone brightly over a suburb. In the near distance Sora could see tall skyscrapers, which were probably the city where he'd been. On a whim, Sora climbed out the window and onto the roof. He leaned back and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze and warm sun. He looked down and saw a girl playing basketball by herself in the lawn. She threw the ball towards the net. It slid cleanly in, barely touching the edge of the net.

"Yes!" she yelled, and ran after the ball. Sora watched as she neared a bench. The bench was worn out, with a dark puddle near the middle. As the girl bent over to pick up the ball, the puddle seemed to grow. Sora blinked and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't imagining this. A clawed black hand reached out from the puddle, the liquid dripping down its wrist. The girl had her back turned to it. Sora gritted his teeth and drew out his Keyblade. The hand became an arm, then an arm and a head, then arms, head and a torso, and soon a full Shadow climbed out of the muck. Sora prepared to jump off the roof, but froze when the girl did something unexpected. She turned to the Shadow, smiled, picked it up, and started _petting it_. The Heartless rubbed its head against her stomach. Was it _purring_?

Sora sat back down, stunned and confused. He remembered what the pigtailed girl from before had done—summoned an entire army of Heartless without saying anything to them. He also remembered Xalkus talking about his 'comrades'. Was this new girl one of them?

"Hello there, Chaos," the girl crooned to the Shadow. "Glad to see you finally came crawling back after what happened last night. That wasn't funny. You had me scared." The Shadow seemed to frown sadly, but then she hugged it and said she forgave it, and set it down again.

The girl continued to play the game, with the Shadow watching from the bench. Every so often it would clap its hands or wave its arms and let out a series of squeaks.

Suddenly the Shadow stopped as the wind changed. It sniffed the air, moving its head around. It turned and gazed at the roof. Sora ducked behind the chimney. It stared at the roof for a long time, before letting out a series of high-pitched squeaks. The girl looked at it. The Shadow squeaked some more and pointed at the roof. Sora pressed his back against the cool bricks. The girl looked at the chimney, then back at the Shadow, made a few motions with her hands, and went back to the game. Sora breathed a sigh of relief. Then he deftly slid down the shingles and jumped down the roof, landing on a metal garage roof closer to the ground. He slid off this and onto the grass. Taking a look back at the house, Sora began walking. Maybe now he could find out where he had ended up in.

* * *

Sora adjusted the black cloak around his shoulders, shivering. He had just spent the last of his munny on it at Hot Topic. Even with it wrapped around him, however, he was still cold. The sun had long since set, and the streets were colored yellow with the odd glow from the streetlights. Wind blew from behind him, and he shivered harder. He wished he had enough munny to rent a hotel room, but even if he had enough, the only hotel around was a slummy, run-down shack, which charged outrageous prices for rooms the size of closets. Their only good attraction was the numerous posters of girls in skimpy outfits (which Sora spent a good five minutes drooling at), but that was hardly worth the five thousand plus charge. He didn't have that much even before he bought the cloak, and it in itself wasn't exactly cheap.

_I should have stayed at that house…_ he thought glumly. _Suspicion is a pretty small price for food and hospitality. _Sora sighed, feeling like an idiot for running through the darkness in the first place. Now he'd probably be up all night wandering the street. And what about tomorrow? Where would he sleep then? Maybe he and a hobo could get into a fight over a cardboard box or something…

Sora heard footsteps behind him. He ducked into an alley and peered out over the edge. Surprisingly, it was the girl from that house. She walked down the sidewalk, with a Shadow walking in front of her and sniffing the air. Sora raised an eyebrow. Was she following him? He looked around, and noticed a fire escape on one of the walls. He jumped up and managed to grab the last rung. The girl was getting nearer. Sora pulled himself up and onto one of the higher landings. He then sneaked up the stairs, trying not to make the rusted metal creak.

The girl was now directly below him. She turned towards the Shadow and muttered something. It sounded like "well". The Shadow squeaked and waved its arms a bit. It pointed at the ground, then forwards and shook its head. The girl nodded grimly. She crouched down and stared at the Shadow for a second, her expression varying from confusion to doubt, annoyance, and then frustration. She turned back to the street and sighed.

"Probably the wind or a DTD, then," she noted. Then she perked up. "Come on, let's get out of here. This whole thing's pointless, anyway. And I think there's still people out on the streets. And where there's people…there's Heartless. Maybe this time we'll be a little faster getting there. The last thing I need is Doctor Conrad nailing me for bringing in mangled-up bodies on a daily basis."

Sora raised an eyebrow. What was she talking about? Why did she care if there were still people or Heartless about? And why on Earth did she bring mangled-up bodies to a guy named Doctor Conrad on a _daily basis_? The whole 'wind or a DTD (Door to Darkness)' thing confused him, too. Maybe—hopefully—it was because the Shadow lost his scent. The wind was picking up, so maybe that had thrown it off-course. Lucky.

"I wonder…" the girl said to the Shadow as she walked away, her hands laced behind her head casually, "What did the Large Body mean by 'special heart'? Is he like me, you think?" The Shadow shrugged. Sora tightened his grip on the metal rail. This girl had somehow talked with a Large Body, one who knew about him being the Keybearer…sort of. _'Like me'… _Sora thought, leaning over slightly. _What does that mean? Is she a Keybearer, too? _Sora leaned forward a little more; trying to hear whatever else it was she was saying.

A window opened up quietly behind him. A rather old African-American woman with curly black hair leaned out the window, reaching for a shirt hanging dry on the clothesline. She stopped when she saw Sora, looking out over the railing of the fire escape, his black cloak blowing around in the wind.

_Odd… _she thought. _Shouldn't I have heard the ladder being pulled down? _She looked at the ladder, and was surprised to find that it was still locked in place. But then—

"Why and how in the hell did you git up here, boy?" she called sharply. Sora let out a cry of surprise and suddenly lost his balance. He pin-wheeled his arms around and ungracefully fell over the edge, landing hard on his back and hitting his head on the asphalt. He sat up and rubbed his head in a daze.

"You still alive down there?" the woman yelled down.

"Barely…" Sora moaned, feeling like a cracked-open egg.

"You want me to call a doctor or somethin'?"

"No thanks…" Sora painfully stood up, putting a hand against the wall for support. He knew the first question they'd ask would be "Where are your parents?". Suddenly the girl from before ran in, skidding on the sidewalk. Crap.

"What's all the ruck—" she started, but stopped when she saw Sora rubbing his head painfully on the ground. She smiled and pointed. "I found you!"

Sora groaned. He didn't feel like playing the Chase Game right now. The girl had other ideas, however.

"You're coming back with me, Mister 'special heart'." Sora shook his head softly to clear it.

"Could you hold that thought?" he asked, then took off running. He could hear the girl chasing after him. She was fast, but she hadn't had a year of training, like he had. Despite Sora's bruised back and possible concussion, he was still able to outpace her.

"Give it up already!" he yelled at her. She tightened her fists.

"No!" she yelled back. "Not until you tell me what's going on!"

"Until _I _tell _you_?" He shook his head. "I don't even know myself!"

"You know _something_. Why else would the Heartless ambush you like that?"

"You mean they didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"They attacked me because—" Sora paused. He didn't trust this girl, and didn't want someone who was friends with the Heartless to know that he was the Keyblade Master and killed Heartless almost constantly. That would not make a good impression.

"Because of _what_?" she asked loudly.

"You know what? Nevermind…" Sora dropped the conversation.

"H-hey! Why won't you tell me what's going on? Is it because of your 'special heart' or something?" She yelled. Sora ignored her rather rudely. "I'm right, aren't I? You're not like everyone else!" Sora could feel his temple throbbing. Why couldn't she just drop it and leave him alone?

"At least I'm not a freak like you!" he yelled back. He immediately felt guilty. Why had he said _that_? He stopped and turned towards the girl, who had frozen in place, a shocked look on her face. Sora bit his lip softly, knowing he had hit an emotional subject. What happened next surprised him completely, however.

"You…take…that…_**back**_!" the girl yelled. She ran over and tackled Sora to the ground. She sat down on his chest. Sora gasped, the wind knocked out of him, and held up his hand to summon the Keyblade. The girl grabbed his wrist tightly. Sora heard it crack and felt a wave of pain wash over him. He cried out, but got cut short when the girl punched him in the face, yelling "shut up!". The girl's sitting on his chest was cutting off his air supply, so he used his unbroken hand to try and push her off. Never was he more happy for that extra amount of strength that came from being older, a boy, more muscled, and having the Keyblade. The girl lost her position and fell to the side. Sora gasped in air, feeling color come back to his face and the haze over his eyes disappear. The girl, however, simply slid back on. Sora was surprised at how strong she was. He screamed in agony as she pulled at his wrists.

"Say you're sorry!" she yelled.

"Let _**go**_!" Sora screamed. "Please—stop!" Blood fell down his face from his broken nose, but he didn't notice.

"Not until you apologize!"

"I-I'm sorry! I'm _sorry_! Oh, God, it hurts!" Instead of feeling relief, however, Sora felt pain seep down his other arm. "W-what?"

"It's too late now! _I __**hate**__ you and I want you to __**die**_!" Sora could feel hot tears of pain fall down his cheeks. He tried to push the insane girl off again, but his arms wouldn't respond. He felt weak, like when he had been attacked by Heartless an eternity ago.

"No… please…" Sora winced every time his heart beat, because it sent yet another wave of pain into his arms. The girl laughed sadistically. She was _enjoying _this. She reminded him of someone…someone from Organization XIII. Only worse, because whoever the other person was, he had been able to defend himself against. Larme…Lexxie…Larksanne… something like that. Now he couldn't move his right arm, and every time he moved his left arm it hurt like hell. He squeezed his eyes shut, mentally bracing himself for the next blow…

"Let's try to keep this PG-13, please," a voice suddenly spoke up. Sora opened his eyes and looked up. A young man with short dark blue hair stood in front of them, holding a small pistol. Sora didn't know whether to curse or be relieved. What was with his luck today?! The man wore a dark jacket and shirt with a white X across the front, as well as red shorts, fishnets (on a GUY!? Ew…), and sneakers. A Barrel Spider was holding the girl, but she didn't try to break free. She just stood there, facing the ground.

The man turned towards Sora and smiled slightly.

"This is almost sad," he said. "And here I was hoping I'd get a chance to use this." He pointed to the pistol. Sora grimaced.

_What now? _He thought. _Come on, think of something, Sora! You've been in worse situations than this! _But Sora's mind drew a blank. He felt the cold hands of a Heartless lift him up from behind. He tried to break free, but it was useless and painful. Sora could feel the pain seeping out his strength and growled. Without his Keyblade, Sora could only hope for one thing: that it'd be quick and painless.

_To Be Continued!_


	4. Back to Basics of You and Me

**Psycho Director:** Hi, everyone! Miss me? I did. Here's a new chapter for everyone! I'm going to try and update this fic with a new chapter at leats once a week. Maybe sooner. How does that sound? I don't want to ignore my other fanfics, either. Especially _Manifest Destiny. _No one seems to want to read that one, which makes me sad because I'm working hard on it. See, I'll even put in a sad emote here. ;; But whatever! It's not MD time... IT'S SC TIME! Woo! (Yes, I'm aware that I make Sora out to be a wimp most of the time. Don't worry, this is the last time that wil happen. Oh, but there still will be violence. Oh so very much.)

**Rated PG-13: Strong violence, mild to medium language, mild to no sextual references.**

* * *

_::CHAPTER IV::_

Madison didn't struggle against the Heartless. She tried talking to it, however, but was only met with silence. It was disturbing. Never once in her entire life had she ever seen a Heartless be quiet. When she talked, they answered. Not this one, however. It had a new and far more powerful Master than she.

The brunet kid now lay limp. She could feel a strong guilt building up in the depths of her stomach. What had she just done? _Why _had she suddenly tried to maul someone she didn't even know—to _death_? Sure, being called a freak was hurtful and it would make her angry normally, but this time had been different. This time the anger didn't stop. She had blacked out and, next thing she knew, she was beating the crap out of him with a gun pointed at her head. She understood _what_ had happened, but she didn't understand _why_. Things were changing, and this time she couldn't just throw the blame on puberty.

The man seemed slightly aggravated at Madison.

"Come on," he said. "Aren't you at least going to say something? Like, I don't know, 'please don't kill me, Sir' or 'oh, God, help'? Not even so much as a 'you suck'?" She remained silent. Madison felt too horrible and guilty for words. She'd lost control of herself over being called a freak. She very nearly killed a guy. Now she was probably going to die from the two things she'd thought she'd always have control over—herself and the Heartless.

_I am so, so, sorry… _she thought to the kid, extending a cautious mental link. He didn't even flinch. He was exhausted. She wondered if he was still conscious. If he was he was in a lot of pain. She felt tears springing to her eyes, which was odd in itself. The man looked over.

"What's the matter, young lady?" he asked. Madison didn't answer. "I'm sorry I can't make this more comfortable. I promise it'll be quick and painless." Madison continued to cry, then muttered the same words she had told the boy.

"I'm sorry." The man seemed at a loss. Madison looked up at him, her violet eyes sparkling with reflected tears.

"Say… you're kind of cute like that…" he muttered. Madison was about to reply, when the seeds of an idea came into her head. It would require girly skill and a lot of luck, neither of which Madison had very much of, but it just might work… She wasn't the type for these kinds of plans, far from it, but when worse came to worse... Her dignity would have to be put aside.

* * *

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this trouble…" the girl sobbed. Sora did a double-take. Seemed fitting that the two people trying to kill him would start _flirting_. The man laughed.

"Relax, Girly! I got these babies to do most of the work!" he patted the Barrel Spider affectionately.

"They're so pretty, in a dangerous way…" the girl noted, gazing at the Barrel Spider with sparkling eyes. "They remind me of you!"

"Thanks, that's what I aim for. You ain't so bad yourself, though you're a little young."

"I look younger than I am. I'm seventeen." Sora resisted the urge to retch. It was the worst lie he had ever heard. The girl was younger than he was, by around a year. The man, however, fell for it.

"Well… it was an awful lot of work catching you guys… let's say you were a bit too quick for my Heartless, then. I decided to let you go, seeing as you're just a girl and all we really need is Sora, after all. Isn't that right?" He smiled smugly at Sora.

"Bite me," Sora spat. The girl seemed in slight awe.

"You'd do that for _me_?"

"Of course!" the man replied. Sora was practically shaking with rage by now, as a vein throbbed in his forehead.

"Oh, thank you! You're so sweet. Maybe we could… I dunno'… stop for coffee sometime?" The Heartless loosened its grip on her, and she landed softly on the ground.

"That would be beautiful," the man said, lengthening the last word slightly. Sora noticed a dark puddle behind the girl. She smiled and bowed a bit, as two feelers popped out of the puddle. A Neo-Heartless.

Suddenly it was all chaos. The girl stepped back and roundhouse kicked the man in the stomach, as the Neo-Heartless latched onto the remaining Barrel Spider's 'face'. The Barrel Spider lashed out at the Neo-Heartless with all of its claws, allowing Sora to drop to the ground. He held onto his right arm with his left to keep it from being jarred, then grabbed the Barrel Spider by one leg. Digging his feet into the ground, he swung it solidly into a wall, where it cracked, but didn't break. Sora's hard side kick to its rim ended it, as the barrel splintered into bits. The girl, meanwhile, punched the man solidly in the face before turning to Sora.

"Come on, we have to _move_!" Sora nodded and ran off, trailing slightly due to his injury. They ran, turning around seemingly random corners and paths before coming up to a street full of plain white houses. They passed by in a blur before they came up near the end.

"In here!" The girl opened one with a green door and scrambled in. She led the way up a flight of carpeted stairs before coming up to a mostly blue and purple room. The girl closed the door and locked it before finally sinking into a chair. Sora collapsed on the bed, wincing. His head was spinning due to the few seconds of sudden panic.

"Ow…" he moaned. He dared to take a look at his right arm. His hand was bent at an odd angle to the rest of the arm, so it was safe to assume that his wrist was definitely broken. His other arm wasn't broken, but he thought he might have fractured something.

"We made it…" the girl panted. "We escaped. Let's never do that again, OK?"

* * *

The boy—Sora—had sprawled out on her bed. Madison allowed herself a few seconds of relief to catch her breath, before speaking up again.

"We made it… We escaped. Let's never do that again, OK?" She said finally. Sora just nodded. Madison bit her lip, and old habit. Was he seriously hurt?

"Anything broken?" she asked in a small voice. A groan answered her, then, "Yes". Madison sank lower in her seat. Shit-tastic. Sighing, she reached into her dresser and came out with a roll of bandages and a small wood board. She then got up and sat next to Sora.

"Where?" She didn't need to ask that, however. One hand was bent at an unnatural angle to the arm, so she began putting in the splint.

"I'm sorry, really—" Madison began, but Sora cut her off.

"You didn't do it on purpose. It's not your fault." Madison blinked. How had he known that? She felt a bit more relieved.

"I don't know what happened. I just sort of..." Madison finished splinting the arm, and put away the bandages with a second sigh. "I don't know... That's never happened before... I can't... I just... lost it..."

"Yeah, and then you got it back and saved my life!"

"Twice."

"When was the other one?"

"From that swarm of Heartless."

"That was _you_?"

"Unless my memories are lying to me."

"Well then, stop worrying so much! If anything, it's _I _who owes _you_." Sora then smiled a ridiculous, big grin. Madison found herself smiling back in spite of herself. Not everyone could be so considerate.

"So… you're not mad that I broke your wrist?"

"…Nah. I've had worse." Madison felt all warm inside now. She remembered a saying she had heard once;

"_The best feeling in the world is when you honestly forgive an enemy, whether they know it or not."_

She finally figured out what they were talking about. She turned towards Sora.

"Hey, Sora," she began. "Did you ever hear about—" Sora turned towards her curiously.

"Hmm?" he asked. His ocean-blue eyes stared up at her. Madison's train of thought careened off the rail, crashing into a cliff and bursting into flame without reason. She stared like an idiot, her mouth half-open and her hand still poised in the air. Her short-term memory was shot.

"…Uh…" Madison searched her mind desperately for what she was about to say, to no avail.

_Think of something, already! _She scolded herself mentally. _Ask him about the 'special heart' or something!_

"How's your heart?" she blurted. She resisted the urge to slap herself across the face. HOW'S YOUR HEART?! What was _that _supposed to mean?! Sora looked just as confused.

"My… heart? It's still in there, so I guess it's OK." Madison blushed.

"So… can you move it?" She gestured towards Sora's arm, changing the subject. Sora tried to move it gently and winced.

"No. But it's nothing a Hi-Potion couldn't cure, right?" Madison blinked.

"High-what?"

"A Hi-Potion. You know, like this." Sora then reached into his pocket (were those her brothers clothes?) and pulled out a round, green-tinted vial. On the sides symbols were inscribed delicately and tiny glass leaves adorned the rim. Madison gaped. Just how much work had gone into making that little vial? She grabbed it and held it up to the light, where it glinted like a diamond.

"It's beautiful…" she muttered.

"Yeah, and that was my last one. Do you know of any place that sells them?" Madison rather glumly put the vial down.

"What, exactly, is it?" she asked. Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Just a Hi-Potion. It heals you."

"What, like an antidote? Or disinfectant?" She realized how stupid she must have seemed, asking so many questions. Add that to the mental list of "Why Sora Should Hate Her But For Some Reason Doesn't".

"Actually more like a Curaga spell," Sora babbled. Now it was Madison's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Spells? Who do you think you are, a wizard?"

"No, that's Donald's job." Madison stood up from the bed promptly.

"You're insane." She said simply. He had seemed plenty nice enough, _beyond_ nice, actually, but if he was just going to babble about magic, then…

"It's the truth! Why would I lie?" Sora said indignantly. Madison sighed.

"You have five seconds to prove it before I send you back to an asylum." She turned around. Sora seemed to be debating this, occasionally shifting his left hand oddly. Finally he nodded.

"I hope it'll still work. I've never tried it with my left hand before." Sora then stretched out his left hand in front of him. His fist partly closed, as if he was holding a tube, and he closed his eyes. Suddenly, much to Madison's surprise, there was an odd shine.

"Wha—?" A blade materialized out of nowhere. Its shaft was metallic silver, and its hand guard was all yellow except for a blue tube as the flank. A tiny chain with three circles on the end hung though one of the holes at the end of the guard. The tip of the blade was the most surprising, however. Instead of dimming to a point, a square block jutted out, with the shape of a crown cut into the edge furthest from the shaft. She noticed that the silver block dimmed to a point, like a ' ', giving it the appearance of a sword/key lovechild.

"The Heartless were after this." Madison stared at the odd blade-thing. She had never seen anything quite like it.

"It's called the Keyblade. The Heartless have great fear of it."

"So they attack it?"

"Yeah. The whole 'fight or flight' thing, I guess."

"So does this have something to do with the whole 'special heart' thing?"

"Right. You need a certain type of heart in order to use it, and it changes your heart."

"It also has that unfortunate side affect of making you look _very _tasty to the Heartless."

"So I'm a little used to Heartless by now."

"So why's it shaped like a key?" Sora set the Keyblade down for a minute.

"That's a long story."

"I'd better get some popcorn, then." Madison went to make some popcorn. After a few minutes she came back to find Sora fast asleep on the bed.

"Hey, Stupid, wake up. It's story time." Sora ignored her. Madison set the popcorn down on the dresser and shook Sora's shoulder.

"Wakey, wakey!" Sora snored slightly. Madison sighed, then pulled the sheet out from under him. Sora rolled over awkwardly and fell off the bed.

"Wha… wha… I'm uppaready!" he mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Maybe we should save story time for the morning…" Madison noted. Sora nodded.

"Mm…" He stood up, then finally managed a sentence.

"Where do I sleep?" Madison yawned, feeling drowsy herself.

"My brother's room. He's at collage." Sora nodded again. Suddenly Madison began to feel especially tired. She tried to stop, but started falling. Sora suddenly snapped awake and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Madison saw his pretty blue eyes looking down at her with concern.

_Man, _she thought, as she felt darkness come over her like a blanket, _What's wrong with me? _She passed out.

* * *

_To be continued! 8D_


	5. School Daze

**Psycho Director: **KH is still not mine. I'm kinda glad it isn't, actually, as then it wouldn't go anywhere. I'd think of it, work out some ideas, then scrap it because I don't want to put the effort into making an entire video game. BUM IS ME.

Enjoy the new chapter, everyone! I'm going to update this one at a rate of (hopefully) two chapters a day, seeing as it's already written out and all I need to do it edit it some. Then i came move on to _A Different Side of Me_! Woo:P

**Rated PG: Minimum violence, minimum language, minimum to medium sexual referances. Wow, that's a first from me. This could almost be confused as part-Disney. But not really.**

**KH+Me NO.**

* * *

_::CHAPTER V::_

"So, let me get this straight…" Madison thought out loud. She and Sora were walking to school placidly, the sun shining brightly down on Kinsview City (which looked considerably less dangerous and run-down during the day). They had wasted all of yesterday (Sunday) signing up Sora as a new student at her school, Kinsview High, finding him a fitting uniform, and sewing together his old outfit. Madison slung her suitcase-like backpack over her shoulder, trying to summerize her new friend's past adventures.

"You are the Keyblade Master, a guy chosen to save the worlds from Heartless which come out of Keyholes to the worlds' hearts. You traveled the worlds with Donald and Goofy, two anthropomorphic servants of someone named King Mickey. You lock the Keyholes using the Keyblade, and recently locked the door to Kingdom Hearts. Your friend Riku had succumbed to the darkness and tried to kill you, and you learned that he was supposed to wield the Keyblade, but since he got all dark and stuff you ended up with it. Your friend Kairi, meanwhile, had her heart taken by some lady named Maleficent as well as six other 'Princesses of Heart' in order to open Kingdom Hearts. Their hearts hid in you instead of becoming a Heartless because they had no darkness to be turned into one (making them Princesses) and because you're Kairi's boyfriend—"

"I am not!" Sora huffed.

"I mean the Keyblade Master. Whatever. Anyway… You managed to free her heart from yours by stabbing yourself, which made you become a Heartless for a time. Kairi managed to bring you back, though. You then learned that some guy named Ansem was behind all this, and that he had created the Heartless. You killed him, stopped Maleficent and her henchmen, locked Kingdom Hearts, and returned all the worlds to normal. You can't remember what happened after that, except for that you ended up in some sort of egg flower thing."

"That's right."

"Apparently, Riku and some guy named DiZ brought you to their lab and kept you there, for reasons you still don't know about. They then found your Nobody, which is a guy made when someone with a strong heart becomes a Heartless, and brought him to some virtual world to try and live normally and help you wake up somehow. When you were about to wake up after a year, Axel infiltrated the system and tried to get your Nobody—Roxas—to come back to the Organization, which he had supposedly been in. Roxas fought against Axel and won, then Naminé and DiZ helped him a bit and he found the lab. DiZ convinced him to go back into you, thus causing you to wake up. You didn't know what happened, and wandered with Donald and Goofy. You killed some more Organization members, and traveled the worlds again to lock Keyholes. Soon you learned that the Ansem you had fought was really the Heartless of Xehanort, Ansem's assistant. Ansem is really DiZ, and DiZ dies trying to stop the Organization. Maleficent wasn't dead, and she actually ends up helping you a bit to stop the Nobodies. You figure out that Riku ended up with the body of Xehanort's Heartless, and he didn't want to let you know so he kept his distance. After a while he revealed himself, and you and he and Kairi were all reunited. Roxas and Naminé got back into you and Kairi. You and Riku worked together to stop Xemnas, Xehanort's Nobody, and got to go home.

"Unfortunately, three days later you were attacked by some guy named Xalkus. After a brief sword fight, Xalkus opened up a Door to Darkness. You jumped in after him and ended up here, where you met up with an evil little girl--not me--who then summoned Heartless and mobbed you half to death." Madison finished with a brief "…and you know the rest".

"That's my life in a nutshell, basically," Sora crossed his arms and nodded. Or rather, he crossed one arm over his sling. Madison took a few seconds to let this all sink in, then responded with a simple, "Dude, your life sucks."

Sora sighed. She was right. For over a year now, his life had been just one case of bad luck after another. What would it take to live a normal life back on the Islands, with Riku and Kairi? He supposed now he would have to go after Xalkus and all of his 'comrades'. He would have to travel from world to world in order to lock up the Heartless inside the keyholes as well—again. This time, however, he didn't even have a ship or Drives. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Madiosn seemed to sense his troubled feelings, as he looked up see her smiling at him.

"Don't worry so much! At least your friends are safe and not trying to kill you, and you have something new now." Sora raised an eyebrow. New? What was she talking about?

"You have the Heartless on _your _side—or did you forget?" Sora had forgotten. That would definitely be an advantage. He began to feel a little bit better. He looked up and saw a large tan building coming into view.

"Is that it?" he asked. Madison nodded.

"That's it." Sora looked at the building again. It had reddish-brown stripes running around the windows and doors, and occasionally up the walls. A giant sign was framed above the door.

"WELCOME TO KINSVIEW HIGH, STUDENTS!" It proclaimed in large blue letters. Sora paused near the steps, reading the sign. Madison, eternally impatient, grabbed his good arm and began dragging him up.

"Come on, we have to go or we'll be late!" she pointed out.

"Where do we go to first?" Sora asked, determined to put Xalkus behind him—for now. Madison pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket.

"Where all the new kids go—to the office." Sora finally managed to get Madison to let go of his arm, and they walked down the hall, eager to start.

* * *

Robin sat in the row behind the front. She had a paperback novel propped up in front of her, almost completely hiding her face. Behind her two girls—Brittany and Savannah—were giggling excessively and whispering in each other's ear. Robin managed to pick up a few words they were saying. 

"Did you hear?"

"About the new kid?"

"Yeah. Do you think he'll be cute?"

"In a dump like this? No way! But still…"

"I heard that Madison was with him."

"They must be related. Madison couldn't get a boyfriend if you paid him." They snickered. Robin forced her attention back to the book. Those girls had no right to make fun of Madison like that. Madison was her best friend, after all. Though she hadn't heard anything about a new student, so she let them talk. That was Robin for you--quiet and incredibly shy, she rarely ever inteferred in anything if she could help it.

"When will we get to see him?"

"Beats me. Hopefully before that _whore _Shelly can." More snickers. Robin clenched the edges of the book tightly. She had to admit that Shelly Princeton was far from angelic, but the girls had no right to make fun of her like that, either. Suddenly the door opened, and Madison walked in. She was smiling slightly, and took her seat near Robin. Robin put the book down and turned to her, getting straight to the point.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"That there's a new student."

"Oh, yeah! He's my cousin, he just moved here." Behind her Brittany whispered "told you". Savannah giggled in responce. The two girls being mocked chose to ignore them.

"Well where is he?"

"He's still at the office, filling out paperwork." Robin winced dramatically. Paperwork was _painful_.

Just then Principal Alski came in, a clipboard in his hand. He adjusted his thick glasses as he read through a leaflet. A boy trailed a few steps behind him. Robin blushed and popped the book back in front of her face to hide it. The boy was dressed in the same typical school uniform—dark blue pants, white dress shirt, and a dark blue jacket and tie. He had spiky brownish-blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes, as well as a slight tan. He looked nervous, but only slightly. But he was so _cute_!

Alski walked up to Mrs. Curori, their teacher. Mrs. Curori looked up at him from her seat behind her desk. Alski smiled warmly at her and passed her the clipboard.

"Well, everything seems to check out. There's a few questions, but we can call Miss Grei's parents about that. Here's all you need. If you have any questions, just call my office." He turned to the boy.

"Looks like you're on your own now. Good luck." He left the room. Mrs. Curori looked over the clipboard for a second. Robin pretended to be interested in her book, unaware tha tshe had read the same line seven times already. Finally, after what seemed like hours (but was only a few awkward second), Mrs. Curori stood up, facing the class.

"Class, this is Sora. He's just moved here from Japan, and will be staying at our school for the time being." Robin was surprised. He had come all the way from _Japan_? That was all the way across Asia and the Pacific Ocean, next to Korea! Brittany and Savannah began whispering again, this time more excitedly.

"Oh my gawd, did she just say _Japan_? That's like, in Europe or something!"

"Aww… look at him!"

"There is no way he is related to Madison!"

"We are so lucky!"

"Ooh… he should totally sit next to us!" Robin sighed. There was no way she'd be able to wrestle a guy off of two of the most popular girls here. Mrs. Curori turned to Sora.

"Err… _Konnichi wa, seito-san_. _Gakk­o wa do desu ka? Nani ga ichiban omoshiroi desu ka?_" Robin blinked. What? Sora smiled at her odd way of pronouncing what Robin was pretty sure was Japanese.

"I can speak English, too," he pointed out.

"Oh, you do!" Mrs. Curori looked relieved. Robin turned to Madison and mouthed the words 'you never mentioned that'.

'Hey, don't look at me,' she mouthed back. Mrs. Curori flipped a page on the clipboard.

"Well, Sora," she said. "You can sit right there." She pointed to the seat—right in front of Robin! Sora nodded and sat down. Robin knew there was no way she'd be able to participate in class now. Behind her, Savannah spoke up.

"Woah. That was cool!"

"I know! I have a feeling that today is going to get a lot more interesting. A _lot _more." Robin narrowed her eyes. Just what were those girls planning?

* * *

_To be continued! Be warned: romantic sap is just on the horizon. 8O Sorry about Robin's Mary-Sue-ness. Don't worry, this ficlet is still SoraxKairi, after all. I just wanted to write something sappy._

_...This is the point where you write a review, people. :o_


	6. Magical Journey! Riku and Kairi Set Off!

**Psycho Director: Yay! New chapter! This time we're going to go back... _to the future_! Oh, OK, I lie. We're going back... _to Destiny Islands_! Can I hear a whoop-whoop? WHOOP-WHOOP! Betcha all thought I forgot about Riku and Kairi, didn't cha? DIDN'T CHA'!? Well, newsflash: I didn't. Mua ha ha ha. But, in any case, it's time to go back to the story! And remember:**

**_Comments may, in their turn, lead to something you did yearn._**

**Rhymes rule.**

**RATED PG:: Mild violence, No language (gasp!), no sexual themes. No, my friends, this chapter is KH enough to make you puke blood and vital organs.**

**...Crap, I think I just killed the rating.**

**KH IS NOT MINE. NOT. NEVER WILL BE. I WANT BBS TO OCME OUT ALREADY 'CAUSE I JUST WANNA' PINCH VEN'S LITTLE CHEEKS AND DAAAAAW... What? Where am I?**

* * *

_::CHAPTER VI::_

**One Day (and a few hours) Earlier…**

Riku finished tracing in the sand and stepped back to admire his work. Kairi stood along the sidelines, a look of doubt on her face. Before them was a circle with some very complicated designed etched into it.

"Are you sure this will work?" Kairi asked. Riku 'hmm'ed as a responce.

"Well, Mickey said that, when I got my body back, I couldn't use the darkness anymore. This is one of the very first things I learned when I started—opening a Door to Darkness via symbol, before I learned to do it by hand. I told myself I wouldn't use it at all anymore—too dangerous—but I have to try. If I have even any darkness left, it should work."

"And if it doesn't…?"

"It will. Trust me." Riku pulled out his Keyblade, Way to the Dawn, and walked into the middle of the circle. He motioned for Kairi to come in, too.

"Are you ready?" He asked. Kairi bit her lip and shuddered. He knew she was probably imagining the worst possible scenario happening to Sora. He would never admit it, but he was starting to believe the worst himself. He shook his head roughly.

"Don't worry. Sora can take care of himself." He wished he felt half as confident as he sounded. Kairi slowly nodded, looking at the ground.

"I'd do anything for him."

"Woah, woah, woah, hey! No one's calling for anything too dramatic, here. It's just a DTD." He twirled his Keyblade around, trying to appear carefree, and plunged it into the sand. Instantly the circle grew dark, while the symbols glowed purple. Riku felt shadows creep over his eyes. He grabbed Kairi's arm to keep them from ending up at different spots when they teleported. He kept his other hand on the Keyblade. Soon the darkness coated his vision entirely and he blacked out.

* * *

"Sounds kinda'… you know… kerskuffled," Goofy pointed out. He was dressed in his (butt-ugly) armor, and had his arms laced behind his head in a very Sora-esque manor. Donald walked next to him, dressed in his (eye-burning) magician suit. Donald griped his wand tightly. 

"I wonder why his Majesty is feeling this way…" Donald mused out loud.

"Now that you mention it, I'm feelin' kinda' the same way… like something's missing."

"You're just being paranoid." Suddenly Donald stopped. Goofy kept going, however, and crashed into him.

"Uh… what's the matter?" Donald didn't answer, and instead ran over to the two very familiar teens passed out on the ground.

"Riku… and Kairi?" Goofy leaned over.

"Gawsh… you think they're alright?"

"Of course not, you big palooka! Come on, wake up!" Riku sat up slowly and rubbed his head, groaning.

"Wha… Kairi!" He shook his friend's shoulder. Kairi shook her head slightly and sat up. Riku looked relieved.

"What happened? And where's Sora?" Donald asked. Riku stood up slowly. Kairi remained on the ground, looking genuinely upset. Donald looked at their dejected faces and felt worry settle deep in his stomach.

"It's a long story…" Riku muttered. Goofy held out a hand to help Kairi up. She took it, but kept her eyes trained on the ground.

"Is he alright?" Goofy asked in a low voice. For the second time in as many minutes, Riku was the one who was trying to keep the group's hopes up.

"He'll be fine. After all, he has the Keyblade. We just need to find him so we can pound some sense into his thick skull." The group didn't take his rare streak of optimism as well as he hoped.

"He's _missing_!?" Donald and Goofy cried at the same time. Kairi looked like she was about to cry. Riku struggled not to let out a groan of frustration.

"Look, we just need to see King Mickey. He should be able to help us." Riku strained a smile.

_Shit, _he thought. _With Sora gone, it looks like I'm going to have to be the one to take his place. We'd better find him soon. _Donald and Goofy nodded and began leading the way. Riku tailed along behind, still lost in thought.

_Next thing you know I'll be spiking up my hair and taking an air pump to my pants. Sora, you'd better be in some deep trouble for this. Me being the happiest one of us all is just plain __**sad**._Behind him Kairi sniffed a bit. Riku looked back. She was really miserable.

_OK, so not **too**_ _deep. I still want to be able to bail you out again. Just hang on until then, OK?_

* * *

Sora smiled to himself as he walked to his locker, still holding his test paper. The teacher had offered to let him bypass the test, being a new student and all, but it was a History test—in sword fighting. Naturally, he had aced it. The only question he has gotten wrong was one near the bottom: name five common blades still used today. He had let his mind wander while writing, so he came up with this list: 

1. Scimitar, 2. Rapier, 3. Saber, 4. Long Sword, 5. Keyblade.

He knew which one he had gotten wrong, of course. He laughed inwardly as he slid his binder, notebook, and paper into his locker and grabbed his Science textbook and binder. Hopefully this world's science wasn't different from science back on Destiny Islands. The last thing he needed was to find out that water here was called R3H or something, forever condemning him as an idiot.

_Slam!_

Sora looked up. A girl leaned on one hand against the locker next to him, smiling impishly at him. She had bouncy blonde pigtails tied up in blue ribbons matching the blue school uniform, but she hardly came off as childish. Her lips were covered in light blue lipstick and her nails were a sparkling navy color. Sora smiled in what he hoped was a friendly manor.

"Hi!" he said, pushing off the floor. She reached down a hand to help him up, and he gladly took it.

"You must be Sora," she said in a soft voice.

"Last time I checked, yeah," he joked. Suddenly the bell rang loudly over their heads. "I have to go to Science, OK? I'll see you later."

"Listen. This Saturday, I'm having a big party to celebrate getting my learners permit. Everyone who's anyone is going to be there." She pulled out an orange card. Sora blinked and grabbed it. He skimmed over the card.

"Thanks. This is—" the girl put a finger to his lips seductively.

"Just don't be late. Everyone's waiting for you." She smiled that same smile and sauntered away to class. Sora stood there, the invitation clutched in his hand.

_The heck… was that about?

* * *

_

Riku and Kairi sat cross-legged, facing King Mickey, who was sitting casually on his throne.

"…And we have no clue where he is," Riku finished. Kairi continued looking at the ground. Here she was, about to leave her home islands again. At least this time she wasn't in a coma or kidnapped. But Sora… for all she knew, he was already dead, or worse: a Heartless. She shuddered at the memory.

"I see…" Mickey said. He appeared to be deep in thought. "Well, now that I'm thinkin' about it… there is one person who could help us…" Kairi was up in an instant.

"Who? Tell me!" Mickey and Riku gave her odd looks. She didn't care. If there was any way—any way at all—that she could help Sora, then she would do it.

"Actually, three people. Yen Sid might have a pretty good idea—maybe he has some way to sense the magic in Sora's clothes. Merlin also might be able to help. Then there's Cid. He could probably use his computer to track Sora down." Kairi began to feel a surge of hope run through her. She turned to Riku, her fists balled in front of her.

"Come on, Riku! We have to talk to Yen Sid!"

"What about Merlin and Cid?"

"Them too! Thank you, Mickey! Thank you so much!" Kairi leaned down and hugged the Mouse King. Mickey waved his arms and struggled against her grip, his face buried in her chest (_bow chicka wow wow..._), but she didn't let up. Riku smiled.

"Try not to get _too_ excited, Kairi. We still have to kick his pansy ass for running off in the first place." Kairi set Mickey down finally. He gasped and tried to regain his composure.

"Now… all we need is a ship," Riku pointed out. Mickey waved his hand and shook his head.

"Say no more. The Gummi Ship is right here. Do you know how to fly one?" Riku laughed cockily.

"Hey, how hard could it be?"

* * *

"_GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH_!" Riku yelled, as he swung the control stick back and forth. 

"I thought you said you knew how to fly!" Kairi yelled, clutching onto the sides of her seat for dear life.

"Hey, it's not every day everything out there is trying to _kill me_! Do _you _want to fly?"

"There's a Special! Get it!"

"_I'm trying_! I can't get this Heartless off my tail!"

"Shoot it with the laser!"

"What do you _think _I'm doing?"

"I'm just trying to help! Watch out for that wall!"

"Too late! _AAAAAAAAAAAHH_!" Riku heard a hideous screech as a wing scraped off. They were spiraling way out of control.

"We're going to crash into that world!" Kairi screamed. Riku fell off his seat and rolled into the wall.

_Should have worn my seatbelt…_he thought. (See? _Kingdom Hearts_ supports seatbelt safety!)

"Brace yourself!" Kairi yelled, throwing her arms over her head. Riku did the same. He closed his eyes and felt a jolt of pain as they crashed into the ground. The whole world was a twister of fiery red pain. Riku shut his eyes and screamed, but it was lost in the inferno.

Then, as quick as it had began, it ended. Riku waited a few seconds, then opened one eye cautiously. The lights had gone out, and every so often a wire would send out a slight spark.

"Kairi? Kairi, where are you?" He asked. He crawled over to her chair. It was overturned. He heard a moan from the left. Kairi slowly sat up from where she had been thrown to the floor, denting it. She rubbed her head.

"Riku? Are you OK?"

"Yeah." He helped her up. He then looked around, his eyes adjusted to the dark (no pun intended). The ship was almost completely totaled. It looked like they wouldn't be going anywhere soon. Riku sighed. Sora would have to wait a little longer.

"Chip? Dale?" Riku's voice echoed around the ship. Soon two little paws reached out from under a pile of rubble, then arms, and then a large chipmunk head.

"Dale, reporting for duty!" the chipmunk replied, saluting dramatically.

"Chip, having some trouble…" a squeaky voice called from above them. Riku, Kairi, and Dale looked up. Chip was caught in a mess of wires, arms (?) and legs pinwheeling around. Kairi giggled.

"Hey, what's so funny? I'm stuck!" Chip moaned. Kairi reached up and gently scooped the ball of fur from the wire deathtrap.

"So, no one's hurt. Now, let's go see just where we are," Riku announced. He walked over to the door, stepping over piles of debris, and wrenched it open, using his Keyblade as a lever. He stepped out and stopped, gazing around.

They were in some sort of large, silver and tan-toned city. Skyscrapers loomed up into the sky, which was perfectly blue. The sidewalks and roads were pretty dirty, and the sun reflected off the many windows. Before them was a series of multi-colored small buildings, most of which shared a wall. A group of people had started gathering around to stare at the Gummi Ship. Riku flinched, not liking how everyone stared at him.

"Where are we?" Kairi whispered. A camera flash went off. Riku swallowed a bit.

"I… don't know."

* * *

_Yay! Riku and Kairi made it to... uh... whereever they are! Whoop-whoop! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and rmemeber: review! Don't make me get out the stick. :)_


	7. Hearts Together, Minds Apart

**Rated G: Minimal violence, minimal language, minimal sexual references. Yes, I can't believe I wrote it, either.**

**KHNOT MINE. I will not say it again, so.. _GOT IT MEMORIZED!?_**

* * *

::CHAPTER VII::

While Riku and Kairi were being the center of unwanted attention, Sora and Madison were having their own adventure.

Madison licked a strawberry ice cream cone. She and Sora were outside an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, sitting at one of the white tables with red and white striped umbrellas.

"Thanks for the ice cream," Sora said, licking the runny juice off a sea-salt ice cream… bar thing. Madison waved the hand that was not holding the cone.

"Hey, it was the least I could do! I'm the one who's been putting you through Hell since you got here!"

"I already said I forgave you!"

"But it didn't feel right. I still owe you." Sora chuckled.

"Girls, who can figure 'em?"

"What did you just say, Kid? You say that one more time, I'm takin' 'way your ice cream!"

"Was that even grammatically correct?"

"Probably not." Madison took a bite out of her ice cream, then winced as the cold scoured her gums. Sora laughed sadistically. Madison growled.

"Let me see that invitation for a second, 'kay?" Madison 'asked', changing the subject. Sora obliged, pulling the orange envelope out of his pocket. Madison read through it.

"I don't get it. You've been here all of one day, and you already have an invitation to _Brittany Spence's_ party?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No way! It's crazy is what it is. Brittany is the most popular, coolest, richest and quite possibly sexiest student in Kinsview history! I know people who would _kill _for one of these! Everyone knows her parties are the _best_."

"Then why'd she give one to me?" Sora thought out loud. Madison had an idea, however. She burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Sora asked.

"Oh, man, it's so obvious, I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner! She has a _crush _on you, Sora." Sora gagged on his ice cream.

"Say _what_?"

"What else could it be? I mean, it makes sense. Brittany likes cute guys who can't think for themselves. You're freaking adorable, and—no offence—you're a little lacking when it comes to advanced thought. It's a match made in Heaven."

"I'm not sure whether to be insulted, complemented, or deeply disturbed by that," Sora muttered.

'_Adorable'? She thinks I'm __**adorable?**_ He thought. Madison nodded sagely and licked her ice cream. Suddenly the door to the parlor opened, and a girl with blonde hair and a long braid walked out, licking a mint ice cream. Madison waved to the girl.

"Robin! Hey!" Madison yelled. The girl—Robin—turned to Madison. She waved meekly back. Madison stood up and ran over to her friend.

"Come on, sit with us!" Madison pulled her friend over to the table. Robin saw Sora sitting at the table and blushed.

"Uh… no, thank you. I have to go…study." Madison grinned.

"Come on, it'll only take a minute. I need to talk to you." Robin finally gave in. She sat down near Sora, who smiled and said hi. She blushed deeper. Madison pulled the envelope off her chair, then slammed it on the table with a flourish.

"Is that…?" Robin couldn't finish her sentence.

"Yep," Madison said simply. Robin grabbed the envelope and pulled out the card. Her eyes widened as she read it.

"Brittany Spence? This is an invitation to Brittany Spence's party?" Madison wrapped her arm around Sora's head and gave him a noogie.

"Right again. Mr. Suave here managed to pull one off Iron Fist." Sora freed himself from the noogie and rubbed his head.

"Sound's pretty rare," he said.

"Obviously, Stupid," Madison joked. "Getting one of these is like finding a five-leaf clover!"

**(A.N.: I found two five-leaf clovers once. Only three days apart, too. That was the only lucky thing that happened :(.)**

Robin put on a smile, but inside she was tearing up.

_Great. It was hard enough trying to get Sora to like me, but now they have to throw in Brittany. Am I doomed to be unhappy? _

"What's wrong?" Sora asked. Madison looked from Sora to Robin, and quickly made the connection. She stood up abruptly.

"Can you excuse us for a moment?" Madison asked.

"Sure." Sora leaned back in the lawn chair. Madison grabbed Robin and pulled her away. They walked until they were behind the building, then Madison turned to her friend.

"Alright, I see that look." Madison pointed at Robin.

"W-what look?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb. You like Sora, too. I can tell." Robin blushed severely, then nodded.

"I can't help it! And now Brittany is after him, and…" she trailed off. Madison grabbed Robin's shoulders and stared her in the eye.

"Listen to me. Pull yourself together already! I can help you. You just gotta' believe in me, OK?" Robin continued looking at the ground. She looked like she was about to cry. Madison let out a cry of frustration.

"Just say OK! We can do this, together! After all, we're the Two Amigas! The Bi-Force! All for one and one for all, got it?" Robin stared at her friend for a second, then wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"You're right, Madison. I have to be braver, don't I? I'll beat that Brittany at her own game!"

"That's the spirit!" Madison yelled. She clapped Robin on the back and grinned wildly. "Come on, let's head back. My ice cream is meeeeeeltiiiiing!" Robin laughed and walked back, feeling more confident.

_Heck, I already have half the work planned out for me! Look out, Brittany. There are some things you can't steal. _

If Robin had known what she was getting herself into, she wouldn't have agreed so readily. If she had known about the perilous destiny that awaited her simply by affiliating herself with Sora and his friends, maybe she would have just stayed home. But then we wouldn't have a story, now would we?

* * *

Kairi looked around the horizon, blocking the sun with her hand.

"We've been walking for hours now, Riku, and haven't seen a repair shop or Sora!" Riku walked behind her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Chip and Dale can fix the ship by themselves. And we'll find Sora."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Kairi asked. She could feel depression creeping in every time she thought of her close friend. His spiky brown hair, gorgeous blue eyes, pale soft skin…

"Hello? Earth to Kairi?" Kairi blinked as Riku waved a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Wha—? I'm awake!" Riku laughed.

"Just don't hit any posts while you're zoned out like that. And in answer to your question…" he got a slightly faraway look in his eyes. "My heart's telling me he's near."

"Your heart had better be right," Kairi noted. For the thousandth time, she imagined something bad happening to Sora, this time involving the large fountain they were passing by.

"Hey, is that an ice cream shop? Come on; let's go get some! I'm roasting!" Riku ran over to a small shop with a red and white striped awning, desperate to get Kairi to focus. Kairi ran behind him.

"Riku, wait up!" she yelled.

"You'll have to be faster than that!" he yelled back. He was only a few feet away, and could see three people sitting in one of the outside tables. One had a long braid, one had shoulder-length hair with spiky bangs, and one had a _very _familiar head of spiky brown hair…

"Riku, why'd you stop?" Kairi asked, narrowly avoiding ramming into her friend. She looked ahead, and froze. Was that—it was! Kairi couldn't believe her luck. Here, of all places? Suddenly, like a strike of lightning, the whole situation hit her. Here she was, fighting through space in order to find him, and what was he doing? Having ice cream with two _girls_! As she watched, horrified, one with black hair and red highlights threw her hands over his eyes and yelled "guess who?". The other, a blonde with a long braid running down her back, sat on the other end, her head propped up on her elbows, blushing with a smile on her face. Sora laughed and jokingly asked "Santa?"

"Wrong! You lose!" Highlights yelled. She grabbed Sora's arm (the other was in a sling for some reason) and pulled it behind his back, and put one boot on the small of his back and pushed. Sora kicked back with his right foot, causing Highlights to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Sora stood over her and crossed his arms.

"Alright, alright, you win! Uncle!" Highlights stood up and brushed herself off. Sora held out a hand to help her up and they smiled at each other. Blondie held her fingers up in a rectangle shape.

"Yeah! It's a Kodak moment, people!" she yelled. Sora and Highlights gave each other rabbit ears and yelled "cheese!". Kairi clenched her fists. How could these… these two horrible girls _dare _to act this way? They hardly knew him and already they were acting like… like they were best friends! Did Sora even _care _about her anymore?!

"I'll kill them. I swear I'll kill them," Kairi muttered darkly. Riku, however, failed to notice the high tension.

"Sora!" he yelled, waving. Sora looked up, then gasped, elated. Kairi couldn't care less about that tramp now.

"Riku! Kairi!" Sora yelled. Highlights yelled "no way!" and ran over to them, Sora on her tail. Braids took a bit longer getting up from the white plastic chair, and followed last. Highlights got up to Kairi. She rested her hands on her thighs, gasping for breath. Finally, she grinned and spoke up.

"So, you're Sora's girlfriend, Kairi?" she asked. Kairi could feel her inner rage building. Not only did this girl act that way to Sora, but also he had ratted out on her, and called her his _girlfriend_? Hot tears began to form at the edges of her aquamarine eyes.

"Not anymore…" she whispered, feeling the tears begin to slide down her face. Sora finally caught up.

"Kairi…?" he asked in a small voice, reaching out a hand tentatively. Something was wrong. Kairi looked up suddenly, staring at Highlights with pure, unbridled rage on her face. Highlights took a step back at the look. Kairi reached out and shoved Highlights without warning. She fell to the pavement hard on her elbows and rear, stunned. Kairi's tears flowed freely now. She whipped around from the shocked group and began running.

"Kairi, _wait_!" Sora cried. Kairi ignored him and kept running. She had to get away from it all for a while. It was too much, too fast! She wiped her eyes and nose and kept running, narrowly avoiding an incoming car. She ran desperately down a hill and out of sight.

Sora held his hand out and prepared to run after her, but Riku stretched his arm out in front of the boy. Sora looked up to see Riku staring ahead at Kairi, his face stoic and unreadable, but certainly not happy.

"Don't, Sora," was all he said. Sora stared up at him for a second; his eyes pleading for some sort of comfort. Finding none, he nodded grimly and turning his gaze to the ground. He could also feel tears starting, even though guys weren't supposed to cry. He tried to stop it by squeezing his eyes shut, but he couldn't. He started to shake a bit and clenched his teeth.

They spent a few moments like this, Riku staring ahead, Sora sniffling quietly, Madison sitting stunned on the ground, and Robin wondering if putting her arm around Sora's shoulders would be considered comforting or just adding to the problem. Finally Madison spoke up.

"What was… that about?" she asked quietly. No one answered her. Robin finally decided to put her arm around Sora anyway. He didn't try to break free, but just stood there, tears falling down his face and onto the sidewalk.

"How could you, Sora?" Riku asked. "She loved you." No one answered, and only one thing could be heard among the group. It was silence, the sound of two hearts breaking.

* * *

_To be continued!_


	8. I'm Not A Whore Cause They Get Paid

**Psycho Director: Hello! Sorry about the long time between updates, everyone! Handling seven (technically eight, but one I haven't written a full chapter for yet) fics isn't easy! Plus homework (damn you, Geography... damn you...), 'real' fics (currently only two), D'art (DA art), and stuff. Still, the next chapter is up, yay! For the record, this fic is already finished -GASP!- on DA, but that was only the beta version. This is the final, at least, for now. Less plot holes, more character development, less choppy descriptions... _et cetera. _So, enjoy! Oh, right, letters.**

**I still can't get "Get Out Alive" by Three Days Grace out of my head. It doesn't help that I'm listening to it now. It kind of fits with this chapter... but not really. Still, it's an awesome song, nonetheless.**

**Letters! We got a whole two to get through!! Valor999 and Iaveina. I'm going to answer to all of their comments they've made on this fic in one letter apiece. Remember, if YOU want a letter, just leave a comment! 8D Please... it's so lonely here...**

**_Dear Valor999 (998 clones came and died before they had you, man... But they say #1,000 will be the superior),_**

**_Thanks for the pretty comments! Don't worry--I'm giving you moar fanfic goodness. So... THERE. And I'm just making the characters in-character, get it? Ha, ha ha... I'm too tired for this... 8(_**

**_OH LOOK IT'S A GOAT! -Runs-_**

**_Sincerly,_**

**_Psycho_**

_Dear Iaveina (say, you wouldn't happen to know of something called Kirby's Rainbow Resort, do you...? Cuz one of the people who works on that website has the same name... 8O),_

_Thanks for the comments! I feel special. I feel great. I feel... WTF MADI'S NOT EVIL!! She's just misunderstood! 8( And yes! Guns are a laugh and a half. Not being confined by strict Disney allotations feels so AWESOME. Like a gentle butterfly floating on the breeze in a freeway at rush hour... -sigh-_

_I do, too! 8D -hugs- Life is good now. And yes, I had fun writing that ride. Thanks! Merry... um... January! Wow, I'm late._

_Sincerly,_

_Psycho_

**Now, ON WITH THE FIC!**

_

* * *

Riku and Sora are desperate to get Kairi back. Finally, Madison pops in with a crazy idea, one that may get them all killed. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but if it's the only way to get Kairi back..._

* * *

::CHAPTER VIII::

Kairi finally collapsed against a streetlight, too tired to run anymore. She sat there for a while, her legs pulled tight against her chest to keep her warm and her breath coming in gasps. She didn't see any point in running farther, and felt torn up on the inside. Just behind her, a large black speaker outside the glossy store window was playing a song. Between hyperactive bursts from overeager radio broadcasters, somewhere, a haunting melody seeped in. Kairi listened to it for a few minutes, her depression worsening.

_I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house,  
That don't bother me.  
I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out,  
I'm not afraid to cry,  
Every once in a while  
Even though going on with you gone,  
Still upsets me.  
There are days every now and again,  
I pretend I'm okay,  
But that's not what gets me._

_What hurts the most,  
Was being so close,  
And having so much to say,  
And watching you walk away.  
And never knowing,  
What could have been,  
And seeing that loving you,  
Is what I was trying to do._

_It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go,  
But I'm doin' it.  
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone.  
Still harder,  
Gettin' up, gettin' dressed, living with this regret, but I know,  
If I could do it over,  
I would trade, give away, all the words that I saved in my heart,  
That I left unspoken._

_What hurts the most,  
Was being so close,  
And having so much to say,  
And watching you walk away.  
And never knowing,  
What could have been,  
And not seeing that loving you,  
Is what I was trying to do._

_What hurts the most,  
Was being so close,  
And having so much to say,  
And watching you walk away.  
And never knowing,  
What could have been,  
And not seeing that loving you,  
Is what I was trying to do._

With that, the song ended, to be replaced by a short jingle for 'Andrew Ryan's Table Tennis Store'. Kairi ignored the commercial, instead forcusing only on her sadness.

_After all we've been through… _she thought to herself, shivering. _Why? Why is he such an idiot? Why would he… he…_

_**You really like him, don't you?**_

_Huh? W-who's there? _Kairi sat upright at the voice.

_**It's Madison. I… I'm sorry.**_

_Madison? Who are…are you that girl that was with Sora? Highlights?_

_**Highlights? Never heard that before. Although I was 'that girl that was with Sora', if that's what you mean.**_

_Why did you take him away from me?_

_**I think we got a little confused here. I swear, I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend.**_

_H-he's not my boyfriend!_

_**Really? Then why were you so upset?**_

_Because… because he's my best friend, and he doesn't deserve to be with the likes of you! _Kairi felt herself disliking Madison already.

_**Alright, alright, forget I said 'boyfriend', then.**_

_That still doesn't answer my question. _Madison laughed, to Kairi's annoyance.

_**To answer your question, I just took him out for some ice cream. That doesn't make us boyfriend and girlfriend, so you can relax. I owed him.**_

_Owed him? For what?_

_**For breaking his arm.**_

You _did that?! Why?_

_**If I knew that, things would be a lot easier. I just lost control.**_

_And you think taking him out for ice cream's going to make up for it?_

_**No. But I had to do something.**_

_But why is it that while we've been searching, he's been eating ice cream with new friends?_

_**You've been gone for weeks, with no trace of this 'Xalkus' guy. We've been able to keep the Heartless out of trouble, and he was stuck here until you showed up. So we had signed him up for school and everything.**_

_So he couldn't do anything except try to live a normal life?_

_**Yeah.**_

_He didn't even __**try **__to find us?!_

**_Are you nuts? He wouldn't shut up about you guys! He was _scary_ desperate._**

_And now that we've found him…_

…_**You fly off the handle on assumptions and run off. I hope you're happy with yourself. I've never seen a guy cry before since grade school. He must really like you. **_Kairi swallowed and felt a lump in her throat. Was Madison right? She had to be sure.

_And what about that other girl, the one with the braid that looks like Edward Elric?_

**_Robin? Well… she has a crush on Sora._** Madison laughed slighly, rather nervously.

_Well, tell her Sora's_ mine.

_**That's some interesting words for someone who doesn't have feelings for him.**_

_Back off, wench. You don't know anything._

_**I do know at least one thing. You'd better get your head in the game, Kairi, because between Robin and Ashley, Sora's starting to become a little less open for indecision.**_

_Ashley? Who the hell is Ashley?!_

_**Jailbait, girl. Also the most popular and one of the sexiest girls in school. **_

_Sora's not one to fall for good looks and social status, mind you._

_**Well he is a teenager… and big boobs can do a lot of convincing to a guy.**_

_Sora's not like that! He wouldn't fall for a pair of... for good looks, and I can't believe that you think he would!_

_**Woah, chill out, Kairi! I just meant—**_

_You meant that I should be worried that Sora might fall for some jailbait instead of me, is that it?_

_**Yes!**_

_You're an inconsiderate, sexist moron! I'll prove you wrong!_

_**Why don't you come over here and tell it to my face, coward!**_

_Maybe I will! Then maybe you'll learn to keep your mouth shut and your overdone hands off Sora!_

_**Why should I? Give me one good reason, seeing as you're too stupid to admit your feelings, Robin's too shy, and Ashley's jailbait. He **_**is**_** pretty adorable, after all… **_

_**WHAT?!**__ I'll __**KILL YOU! **_Kairi stood up and screamed, echoing around the empty street. She clenched her fists, her nails biting into her skin, and sprinted down the street with speed rivaling that of a 747.

"Sora, you idiot! Don't let her…" she shook her head frantically. "Just hang on!"

* * *

"I think you may have overdone it, Madison…" Robin pointed out. Madison opened her eyes, freeing herself from the mind-link she had with Kairi. 

"...Sorry. It was the only thing I could think of to get Kairi to come back." She uncrossed her legs and laid down, her hands behind her head. Robin started giggling.

"…What?" Madison asked, peeking open one eye lazily. Robin laced her arms together and pressed them against her cheek, looking up with a crazy 'love-struck' look on her face.

"Oh, Sora… you're so adorable… I just want to hug you and kiss you… softly and slowly… God, Madison, you're such a sap!" Madison sprang up with a mock look of total indignation on her face.

"You should be grateful that she's coming back at all!"

"Yeah, but she's totally going to kill you when she does!"

"Why would she do that? Sora's just some guy!"

"Would you be saying that if someone started hitting on… I dunno'… _Dmetri?"_

"Hey, Dmetri is just a friend!"

"Sure, and you asking him to the dance was just a friendly date, right?"

"Exactly!" Madison looked to the right. Sora and Riku were sitting together in one of the other tables, looking out to where Kairi had gone.

"They still haven't snapped out of it, huh?" Madison asked glumly. Robin nodded.

"I feel so sad. We even managed to bring the manager out!" Robin remembered how she had wrapped her arm around Sora, and how warm he felt. Unfortunately, she also remembered the manager coming out of the building.

"I don't know what just happened here," he had said, "but if you want to get touchy-feely like that, you'll have to take it somewhere else. This is an ice cream shop, not a make-out spot. You'll scare away my customers!" Robin had reluctantly let go of the warm, miserable boy and went over to hang out with Madison. She blushed at the memory.

"Hey, stop thinking lovey-dovey thoughts about Sora! That's what got this into this, and we have a bullet to catch," Madison reminded her. Sure enough, they soon spotted Kairi barreling down the street towards them, eyes burning with sheer rage.

"Is this the right time for an 'I told you so'?" Robin asked sarcastically.

"No, it's the time to _run like hell_!" Madison yelled, scrambling to her feet. Kairi had caught up to them in no time, and Madison paused when she saw red welts on Kairi's hands.

"Woah, is that…? Seriously, I had no idea—" she began, but was cut off by Kairi.

"Listen to me. You're a horrible little whore, and if you so much as lay _one finger _on Sora, it'll be the last pathetic mistake you ever make. Stay. Away. From. Him."

"Girl, I think you need to calm down for a second. It was a tri—"

"Calm down? You want me to _calm down_? After all I've been through, you just expect me to sit down and _watch _you take away my best friend?!" She pulled out her Keyblade, a shiny golden one with flower designs at the end. By this time Sora and Riku had already ran over to them. They stepped between the girls, creating a barricade.

"Kairi, stop! You'll kill her!" Sora cried out.

"Madison, quit taunting her! We're trying to _help_!" Robin cried, pulling her friend away from the battle. Kairi laughed spitefully.

"Yeah, sure, let's all act unbearably cruel to the new girl, because we're trying to _help_. Is that it?"

"Listen, Kairi, I can—" Sora began, but Kairi cut him off.

"You stay out of this!"

"But you don't understand, it was—"

"For the love of God, Sora, shut up! This is all your fault! I hate you! I hate you!" She held up her fists and tried weakly to beat on Sora, but did no damage. She let out a cry of frustration and buried her head in his chest, sobbing.

"I… I hate… I hate you… you idiot…" she cried in-between her tears. Sora seemed at a loss for a second, and turned to Riku. Riku blushed and turned away, offering no help. He then just decided to hug her, and she didn't try to break away. She just let go, and allowed all of her hurt and frustration to come out. Meanwhile Riku, Madison, and Robin stood a few feet away, dumbfounded.

"What just happened?" Riku asked, noticing that he hadn't said anything for a while. Both Madison and Robin shrugged. Madison suddenly grinned, a large toothy one earning her skeptical looks from both Riku and Robin

"Well, it looks like this mission was a success! We finally got Sora and Kairi back together, and everyone's happy, right?"

"What are you, nuts? Kairi's still miserable, and now I have zero chance of getting hooked up with Sora!" Robin groaned. Madison laughed and patted her on the head.

"Hey, relax, kid! There are plenty of other fish in the sea! And with these guys ship, we can travel to other worlds! Imagine it: two young bachelorettes flying through space, exploring other worlds and meeting hot, single guys! No more homework or curfews or creepy love triangles! Just us five, one ship, and endless worlds waiting for us!"

"Hey, what makes you think _you're _coming?" Riku inquired.

"Face it; I owe you guys. First I break Sora's arm, and I caused this whole mess-up in the first place! So what better way to make up then by helping you out? And you could use a girl with powers like mine."

"I don't think Kairi's going to be too happy about us coming with them…" Robin rubbed her chin.

"Aww, she'll get over it. Right? Right, guys? Hey, why are you ignoring me?" Riku and Robin laughed and began walking away. Madison stood there and spread out her hands in a "what?" gesture.

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it! I'm just trying to help! Wait up, guys! Wait up!" She put her hand over her hat and ran after them, yelling. Sora and Kairi sat down on the sidewalk, arms around each other's shoulders. Sora swallowed.

"Err…listen, Kairi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that…" Kairi, surprisingly, smiled and snuggled up closer to him.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me and jumped to conclusions, and I hurt you pretty bad."

"So…friends?" Sora held out his good hand.

"The best." Kairi grabbed his hand tightly. Sora once again smiled one of his famous cheap grins, forcing Kairi to smile back.

_Even if I don't want to, I think I understand how Madison felt while we were 'talking'. He is adorable..._

"Sora?"

"Mm?"

"Don't ever change."

"I won't." They sat like this, under the glow of the moon, smiling. Suddenly one of the workers, a black haired, pot bellied man with a curly moustache, came out through the large double doors.

"Hey," he said, in a rather high pitched voice, "we're closing shop, you hear? You'll have to take your romance somewhere else." Kairi and Sora reluctantly sat up, still holding hands, and began walking after their friends. The worker watched them leave, then leaned on the handle of his broom and sighed.

"Ah, young love. I've never seen anything quite so…magical. Isn't that right?" He turned to a teenage boy sitting at one of the tables. The boy leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up onto the table.

"I wouldn't know," he replied in a low voice. "I'm not one to fall for all that sap." The man put away his broom, then turned again to the boy.

"I've always wondered what was your deal," he said. "You pop in here without any reason, any past, with just some dumb name and the clothes on your back. What kind of a name is 'Rexic', anyway? Rexic smiled, revealing sharp teeth.

"It's a sign that I can never return, until I have what I lost back."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"It's something very dear to me, something that was brutally ripped out without reason."

"Is it your heart? Did some girl you loved betray you, perhaps? Maybe that's why you're against love so much." Rexic seemed to stare daggers of loathing at the man, then laughed suddenly.

"No, it's not my heart. That weak thing isn't any good. I'll give you another hint; you're about to lose it very soon."

"What are you talking about, boy? I'm not losing anything!" Rexic calmly pulled out a necklace from under his shirt. It was green gem on a gold chain. The gem seemed to have translucent fog swirling around it.

"You're awfully confident about that." Suddenly there was a bright glow, and a swirl of translucent fog flew out of the man and into the gem. The man screamed and glowed green before falling to the ground, dead. The gem glowed brightly once more, before fading to its original color. Rexic looked down at the man, and scoffed.

"The fool was too weak to live without it, after all. And he got between myself, Madison, and that brat Sora. Xalkus will not be pleased about that." He frowned one more time at the body before disappearing into a Door to Darkness.

* * *

_To be continued! Whee! And don't worry, this is pretty much the end of all the sap. I'm in here for the action, really. 8D And the song, in case you were wondering, is "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts. Listen to iiit! 8O_


End file.
